Regional Kitchens
How the same dish changes across a few hundred kilometres, and why.
20 articles · page 1 of 2
Regional Kitchens
The cooking fat changes as you move across India, and the map explains it
Mustard oil in the east, ghee through the wheat belt, coconut oil in the far south — the boundaries follow what could be grown and pressed locally before anything could be shipped.
By Gautam Pillai · · 4 min read
Regional Kitchens
Every coast sours its fish with whatever grows within sight of the water
· 3 min read
Regional Kitchens
One pot of dal, a dozen regions, and a completely different job each time
· 4 min read
Regional Kitchens
A whole cuisine built without onion or garlic, and what stands in for them
· 4 min read
Regional Kitchens
Pepper was the heat before the chilli arrived and some kitchens never fully switched
· 4 min read
Regional Kitchens
The northeast reaches for fermentation where the rest of India reaches for spice
· 4 min read
Regional Kitchens
Two neighbouring states can share a dish name and disagree about everything else
· 4 min read
Regional Kitchens
Coconut is used as flesh, as milk and as oil, and the three stop at different borders
· 3 min read
Regional Kitchens
A desert kitchen cooks in milk and buttermilk because water was the scarce thing
· 3 min read